Micronuclear DNA sequences from Tetrahymena do not confer mitotic stability on ARS plasmids in Saccharomyces

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Abstract
Genomic libraries containing micronuclear DNA sequences from Tetrahymena thermophila have been constructed in a vector containing ARS1, SUP11, and ura3 sequences from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. When transformed into a strain of S. cerevisiae carrying a suppressible ochre mutation in the ade2 gene, viable transformants are obtained only if the transforming plasmid is maintained at a copy number of one or two per cell. Mitotic segregation of the plasmid is easily assessed in a colour assay of transformants. Using this assay system, we showed that micronuclear DNA from Tetrahymena does not contain sequences that confer mitotic stability on yeast ARS-containing plasmids; i.e., sequences that function analogously to yeast centromere sequences. One transformant was analyzed that carries Tetrahymena sequences that maintain the copy number of the ARS plasmid at one or two per cell. However, these sequences do not confer mitotic stability on the transformants and they confer a phenotype in this assay similar to that of the REP3 gene of the yeast 2 μm plasmid.Key words: mitotic stability, centromere, Tetrahymena, Saccharomyces.